Sorry, Tea Party Sugar Daddy. Looks like your sweetie really isn’t that in to you. Now, don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t mind spending your money like a drunken sailor trying to stumble his way into the halls of the nation’s capitol, but to be seen with you in public? Well, frankly he thinks you’re just a little embarrassing.

There is no question that Alaska Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller has been treated like a king by the Tea Party Express. Last June, he received their full endorsement. He was a long shot back then. He had never once been elected to public office, and nobody had ever heard of him. But his personal friends Todd and Sarah Palin had given him an endorsement, and that alone made ‘Joe the Longshot’ worth a second look for the Tea Party. And look they did.

The Tea Party Express said it’s willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Miller, a Fairbanks attorney and self-styled “constitutional conservative” who is making his first statewide run for public office.

Spokesman for the TPE, Levi Russell said that significant financial investment in Miller’s candidacy would help to level the playing field in the uphill battle against establishment incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski, noting that many voters didn’t even know who Joe Miller was.

A poll by Ivan Moore Research done in mid-July showed that among likely Republican voters, Murkowski dominated the race 62% to 30% – more than two to one. Almost immediately after the poll, the Tea Party money started to kick in. The group spent about $600,000 for Miller’s primary effort, with an unbelievable $314,000 coming in just the final week. Our Country Deserves Better PAC (Tea Party Express) also organized a nationwide money bomb, raising $156,000 just four days before the election. Additional monetary support spurred on by entreaties from Sarah and Todd Palin sealed the financial deal.

In a media market where a radio ad costs $10, and three spots on CNN are $100, Tea Party candidate Joe Miller owned the airwaves of radio and TV, and surged more than 25 points in just three weeks.

After a nail-biter of a race, and days of counting absentee and contested ballots, it became clear that Murkowski had no chance of victory and she conceded the race. Amy Kremer, Chairman of the Tea Party Express announced, “Tonight Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded the race for U.S. Senate to Conservative Republican Joe Miller. We here at the Tea Party Express couldn’t be more excited. We congratulate Joe Miller on winning the political shocker of the year.”

So, how did this unknown candidate who has never held political office in his life end up knocking the Murkowski dynasty out of the primary race? In addition to the presence of Ballot Proposition 2 regarding parental notification for abortion (which drew out masses of conservative voters), nobody will dispute that the victory had more than a little to do with the unexpected generosity of the Tea Party Express, brought to bear at the urging of Sarah Palin.

Last week, an internal email obtained by The Mudflats revealed that in exchange for Palin’s endorsement of Miller, a reciprocal nod was expected, and fireworks ensued when it didn’t come. Miller, in a clear effort to distance himself from Palin, (whose approval rating in the state of Alaska are currently lower than Barack Obama’s) refused to state directly that he thought Sarah Palin was qualified to be President. In return, Todd Palin blasted him with an angry email in which he said, “Joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works, is it to be completely one-sided.” Todd Palin then told Miller that a fundraising post on Facebook that Sarah Palin had been working on would not be sent, in retribution for Miller’s less than enthusiastic support.

Following that story’s revelation, another internal email was also obtained by The Mudflats. Emails from this source reveal that Joe Miller’s campaign is not only distancing itself from Palin despite her support, but is attempting to distance itself, at least publicly, from the Tea Party Express itself.

The email exchange is between Miller’s campaign Fundraising Chairman, Seth Church and Campaign Manager, Robert Campbell. In the email, dated September 18, 2010, Church asks Campbell for suggested edits for a piece written for the campaign. Campbell returns the email telling Church, “We’re not the Tea Party candidate, so avoid that language…”

This distancing, in which Miller’s Campaign Manager states specifically that he is “not the Tea Party candidate” and asks that Tea Party references not be used by the campaign, comes despite the staggering financial commitment, and clear positive effect that Tea Party money had for Miller’s candidacy. The support ultimately lead Miller from complete obscurity to primary victory over a tough incumbent opponent.

The Tea Party Express, as recently as October 4, sent a delegation to Alaska to hold a fund raising telethon on conservative station KBYR, described as a “rally over the airwaves” for Miller. The event, targeting the loser of the Republican primary Lisa Murkowski who has since launced a write-in campaign was titled “No Means No, Lisa” and raised $30,000 in two hours for Miller’s campaign. Group leaders said they were willing to do “whatever it takes” to see that Miller was elected.

Despite their continued support, the message from the very top of the Miller campaign seems to be clear. Keep Miller’s name away from the Tea Party. Just as with Palin, the Miller campaign seems happy to take the money and the success it brings, but they shun the controversial association in public, undoubtedly fearing the “extremist” label. Joe Miller loves being at the dance, but won’t save a waltz for the ones that brought him. I wonder if the Tea Party Express will want their money back.

Wow, the fur is flying now with the revelation that Jo-Jo was being naughty and used Fairbanks borough computers in a failed attempt to oust Randy Reudrich. Man, I would love to see those emails — probably a few juicy ones from ‘she who shall not be named’, too! (And yeah, it’s getting interesting on the ADN comment boards. I had a feeling this political season was going to get nasty).

I want to draw everyone’s attention to today’s NPR broadcast of All Things Considered, where they try to track the money trail for campaign ads. You know, the ones that are NOT supposed to be partisan, but are? The ones where they are supposed to fill out the forms fully, completely and truthfully, but don’t?

A new Super PAC, an organization that, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, is allowed to draw unlimited contributions from any type of donor, has sprouted up in the Frontier State to help Sen. Lisa Murkowski in her write-in campaign effort.

The Sunlight Foundation reports that the Super PAC has drawn its funds solely from corporations:

Alaskans Standing Together appears to be the only Super PAC–groups that file with Federal Election Commission declaring their intention, allowed by the Supreme Court in the Citizens United ruling, to make only independent expenditures while raising funds in unlimited amounts–to raise money exclusively from corporations. It is impossible to say whether other groups do the same, since many of them are not required to disclose their donors. Alaskans Standing Together filed with the FEC on Sept. 23, 2010, and raised its money in a five day period starting on Sept. 25.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported last week that the Super PAC was organized as a response to recent efforts by California-based Tea Party Express against Murkowski. According to the News-Miner:

Alaskans Standing Together includes at least 11 Alaska Native corporations as its financial backers, including Fairbanks-based Doyon Ltd. It also has some prominent politicians and unions among its supporters, including former Gov. Bill Sheffield, Valdez Republican Rep. John Harris, the National Education Association, the Alaska Professional Firefighters Association and the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association.

According to Sunlight’s examination of FEC filings, in that period of time, the PAC has already received $805,000 in donations from nine Alaska-based federal contractors. So far the group has dropped $595,000 in an effort to keep Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an incumbent known for her ability to bring federal dollars to Alaska, in Washington. [/snip]

Hey, at least we’re finally getting to know the REAL Lisa Murkowski along with the REAL Alaska. You know, the one that reserves all the best seats at the table to a very small country club cadre of Corrupt Bastards.

McAdams should make this a campaign issue. Murkowski skipped the DISCLOSE vote, saw it blocked in the Senate and now is directly benefiting from it. Lisa voted for secrecy because it would benefit her. I’d love to see her defend that.

Miller won the primary on Tea Party Express money, and now is running his general campaign on K-Street money.

Why is it that people who have failed at their jobs then try for higher, harder ones?
Oh, I lost my house because I couldn’t hold a job as a bizarre TV commentator, so I’ll just run for Senate.

I can’t manage to work well with other lawyers in a pretty small borough, so I’ll run for US Senate where I have lots of lawyers to get along well with–most of whom are smarter than me.

I hate being a governor. I’ll quit and run for prez. That’ll be fun. I can do that job.

I nearly sunk a highly successful, respected Silicon Valley company and got a great bonus out of it, too. Now, after never paying attention to politics, I’ll also too run for Senate.

I’m not really a doctor, but, hey, I can play one on TV, and, shoot (literally) I can play a Senator, also.

I have the compassion of a tape worm, but vote for me and I’ll protect every single baby until it’s born. Then, I’ll have cut education and social services budgets and increased the military budget. Oh, and let’s protect those tape worms while you’re at it. It must be God’s plan they’re inside you.

Is there any chance that emails from Joe Miller’s Borough account will be requested? I’m just thinking it’s not going to be too hard to connect the dots and see if (then Gov) Palin was emailing Joe Miller from HER State computer in their bid to oust Ruedrich by committing voter fraud. It would be pretty funny to see her get caught abusing govt time and equipment in her self-proclaimed quest to “clean up corruption in the State of AK”. Doubly funny, because abusing his govt office and computer are the charges that Palin got HIM ousted for.
Also, too – I just got polled by Rasmussen tonight. They asked opinions about all the candidates in the Senate & Governor’s races (McAdams, Murky, Milker, Parnell, Berkowitz, but not the House race. They did ask for opinion on sitting Representative (Yon Dung) but not whether you were voting for him. They didn’t even mention Harry Crawford.. They also solicited opinions on Obama, his policies, how you think the economy is doing, how likely you are to vote, etc. Very comprehensive. And very timely, with the outing of Miller’s latest shenanigans in the news the past few days. It’ll be interesting to see the results…

Who has flip-flopped more in their grasp for money and power? Miller or Murky?

When respect is actually earned by sticking to one’s values, it’s going to be hard to hold that down.

McAdams has the respect for sticking to his values and for communicating to Alaskans that his values are their values. He’s earning respect for working hard, working smart, working professionally, relating well, listening well.

If ever there were a clear choice for Alaska, it’s this year and this race. No race is more important for Alaska’s future and the future of our country. Six years is a long time to live with the consequences of our choice. Let McAdams be that choice.

Hate to be cynical here, but an attempt to publicly distance himself during the election doesn’t mean he isn’t still committed to the Tea Party agenda (I almost said “principles”, but I don’t think they have any).

Don’t think you are being cynical- think you are being realistic and it’s an important point. He’s attempted to appear more middle-of-the-road conservative before.

Mr Miller’s behavior the last few weeks reminds me of a kid who just barfed at the fair…
He’s been running from booth to booth, stuffing his face, eyes on the next goodie while wolfing down the last one..
Til he just urps …
He doesn’t have the maturity nor wisdom to pace himself or think through consequences for his behavior.
Nor any sensible impulse control…

You’re not being cynical. You’re being realistic about Miller’s true motivations.

Joe Miller is the one who’s being cynical. It was politically expedient to use the Tea Party money and endorsement to win the primary, but then distance himself from the Tea Party for the general election.

Despite the media’s attempts to portray the Tea Party as some massive grassroots movement, Joe Miller knows very well that the Tea Party is only a small percentage of the general electorate, and he’s not going to win jacksh*t with only Tea Bagger votes. Cynical political machinations defined….

The Joe Miller and The Joe Miller Campaign have taken a close look at the voters and have figured out The Joe Miller will garner more votes by returning to The Joe Miller’s real roots; by speaking to, and getting the organized votes of, the ‘one who truly brung ‘em’, rather than be bothered with keeping up pretenses and nicey-talky for the Tea Baggers.

The Joe Miller hasn’t once (that I’m aware of) made an appearance (or statement) in which The Joe Miller’s *true* roots, The Joe Miller’s *absolute* core beliefs, weren’t abundantly made *clearly* known… Although folks might’ve glossed over the nutjobbery as just more whackadoodle notions of another whackadoodle Tea Bagger, they’d have been (and are) wrong to do that. The Joe Miller has consistently made it crystal clear that The Joe Miller is, through and through, no-holds-barred, hard-core AIP.

The Tea Party Express connection was a mere flirting to get money from a very wealthy, but not very organized, Sugar Mommy, the AIP is his heart. As it is, I’m convinced, Toad and his wife’s. beth.

The Teabagging Not-Ready-for- Prime-Time-Players Candidates are a gift from the gods for Democrats. But only if we work like hell to make it so. Joe Miller is a total fraud. A government program ho. A money grubbing, national media suck up who cares not a whit about Alaska.Tweeting about drapes and carpet and name plates. Are you freakin’ kidding me? In all respects An Accidental Candidate.

The political landscape in this cycle is littered with these losers. The have no past. They have no accountability. The rules don’t apply to them. They don’t need to fill out no stinkin’ forms. They don’t need to talk to the stinkin’ local media. Or the national media. Or, any media. They are captives of the corporate culture who are hanging on for dear life and find their tools in these bought and paid for weirdos.

Time for us to draw the line in the sand. Man up Alaska. Don’t waste your vote. This is where the crazy stops. Joe Miller is a national embarassment and voting for Murkowski pretty guarantees he wins.

sustitute ‘Miller’ for’ Paladino’ and Alaska for New york and you will see the the same trend. teabagger candidates who are nothing but slime.
Paladino has spent the last month yapping about disgusting (his words) gay lifestyle. then when it got too hot for his butt he threw his poor gay nephew under the bus by referring to his nephew’s lifestyle in the media. the nephew was working for his campaign. now we find out he has been the landlord of TWO gay bars in Buffalo for years. he also is now trying to say he is no teabagger because he funded his own campaign. but now we know he is in every sense of the word.

Yes, the girlie who puts the “party” in Joe’s tea. The body language in that picture is troublesome in four ways that I can count. Imagine the pic is just the two of them with a black background.

It’s obvious she likes them old, married and of poor character, but Joe seems to have enough trouble supporting his own kids let alone hers. At least the odious Sullivan doesn’t have kids to support ….. but ewwww!!

That just hasn’t come out yet. That picture is worth a thousand words. Our little party planner might have visions of being the 2nd wifie of the new Senator. They can start a new quiver full. Fundies like that.

It’s not nice to con a “Rill Alaskan”. Joe’s karmic debt is mounting daily and it sounds as if our own AKM is reaping the benefits. Who knew there was a “Deep Throat” Mudflats fan. This beats any soap opera ever written! You simply can’t make this stuff up!

Very informative about Miller’s behavior during his time at the borough. According to the former mayor, here are some of the main points:

– illegal use of borough computers resulting in suspension without pay
– the borough released 148 pages of documents and a 16-page log that listed documents that could not be released, many of which coincided with the dates of the GOP’s 2008 state convention (reminds me of Palin’s non-released emails)
– Miller lied that the release of documents would “violate attorney-client privilege”
– Miller was going to be fired by the borough attorney, but preemptively resigned the next day
– Miller had problems working with the borough attorney on business and personal issues
– Miller is not eligible for rehire in the borough
– Miller lied to the press that his vacation time could be used for terminal leave
– Miller lied that he had not received an unredacted copy of his personnel record, whereas he had received it on July 13.

Miller’s professional conduct at the borough, and during this campaign with respect to his borough employment, appears to be one of serial fabrications and cover-ups of unethical activity.

Ah – thatcrowwoman, you gave me a gift with that link. Thank you. I was restless and got up to do some creative writing but was so weary. Watching the video and then finding others on Buddhist chants really did the trick! I had not realized these wondrous videos were on YouTube.

I’ve bookmarked yours and others to use for meditation. Given the upcoming elections and the aggravations that are part and parcel of the beast, these will be very comforting. Thank you.

Thanks to the two m-pups that included links to this article. It is a good read and refreshing to see how the former mayor of Fairbanks just states the facts and clarifies the issues. sweet and simple!

Thanks Arcticflowergirl! Aside from all the improper use of government equipment stuff I think it’s pathetic that he threw a hissy fit about not getting to take time off to go moose hunting when he wanted. Here is a man that is all about getting his way. I feel sorry for his wife.

Ah, now his remarks make more sense. He seemingly was caught doing something he shouldn’t, resigned before he could be fired and doesn’t want to talk about it. Unfortunately for Joe, this isn’t something that happened years and years ago when he was a young foolish lad – this was in 2008 and 2009. Not good, not good at all.

or be pushed out on the gang plank and be forced to jump, or keel hauled. Tsk tsk tsk, maybe they will try and vet someone before they nominate him, oh never mind, McCain didn’t do such a hot job on Miss Quittypants.

As the wife of a US Navy veteran, I really wish you would not use the term”spend like a drunkin sailor” when referring to Joke Miller. We are proud of that term and any use with someone like him really demeans us!!! LOL!

Seems to me Mud, now that JoJo has publicly stated that he WILL NOT ANSWER any questions about himself, his past or his financial status that pretty much leaves Alaskans holding the “Vote for Me Because You’re an Idiot” flag…. I don’t think Alaskans would like that label very much….

We knew this would happen in many of the races around the country once the conservatives finished their pissing contests about who was more radically conservative in the primaries.

Now, all the nutjobs who won their primaries by stoking the fears and anger of their base want to pretend they’re moderates to win the general election. Political wh*res without an ounce of integrity or principles! Whatever it takes to win….

Vote McAdams! He didn’t change who he is in the interests of cynical political expediency.

Joey, you have splainin to do. What a grifter, now he’s taking from the Tea Party. lol what a piece of work. He might as well just ask for funds from overseas, he’s an a roll. I just hope that roll is back to Kansas.

Too funny, my neighbor across the street (with 7 children) fundamentalist christians, put up a billboard and four signs for Joe Miller. Within 8 hours, the sign had been delivered into a ditch. 8 hours later, the signs reappeared in their original spots.

I’m really looking forward to the birth of their 90 grandchildren. I’m sure that will begin with the onset of puberty of the first kid.

So, Bernadette Wilson has moved on, eh? Mayor Sullivan’s star is waning and Joe’s probably seemed to be rising. Just saying, I read that she is now working for the Miller campaign, but her body language sure isn’t what I would explain from a professional in that situation – a political professional at any rate. I sure hope Joe’s other arm was around his wife.

Nothing too subtle about Bernadette is there? Can’t say much for her taste in politicians.

Great synopsis of the dog biting the hand that fed the bloated dreams of the straw man with the clay feet and the nebulous beard (I know. It’s kind of a complicated scenario of morphing dogs with beards).

btw….that party planner (PP) gets around. That particular photo of Miller-PP could work as a commercial for male enhancement products.

No–his wife is looking at him from the crowd, along with a young woman with brown hair. At least, the blonde woman looks like his wife. Could the young woman be his daughter? She looks a little shocked.

I just want to say that it is really pathetic that I can pick a party planner from Alaska out of a picture in seconds but it took me several minutes to find a candidate in his own campaign ad from my own state. In my defense though, the political blogs for my area aren’t any fun to read so I have to get my daily dose of “local” politics from here.